General Motors shares soared more than 7 percent to close at $37.18 on Friday.

By Tom Krisher
Associated press
January 11, 2019

DETROIT — General Motors strengthened its pretax profit estimate for 2018 and predicted even stronger performance for this year as it executives made a presentation to investors on Friday.

Shares soared more than 7 percent to close at $37.18.

CEO Mary Barra also says the company doesn’t foresee any further job cuts through 2020. Last year GM announced plans to close five North American factories and lay off 14,000 salaried and blue-collar workers.

Advertisement

The company predicts 2018 pretax, per-share profits will be higher than the $5.80 to $6.20 range it forecast in the third quarter. For 2019, it expects that to increase to $6.50 to $7.

Get Talking Points in your inbox:

An afternoon recap of the day’s most important business news, delivered weekdays.

The rosy profit forecast comes despite declining sales for the company in the US and slowing sales in China. GM also plans to exit several car lines in the US in the coming year.

The outlook exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for both years. Analysts polled by FactSet expect pretax earnings of $6.24 for 2018 and they predict a decline for this year, to $5.92.

In a briefing for reporters before the presentation in New York, Barra said GM has enough new trucks and SUVs coming this year to offset any US sales decline caused by scrapping car models such as the Chevrolet Cruze.

The company is rolling out new full-size pickup trucks and has heavy-duty versions coming later in the year. It also will have a full year of sales for the Cadillac XT4 and Chevrolet Blazer new SUVs, as well as new Cadillacs to be announced later, she said. ‘‘We think we have a very, very strong product portfolio this year, and we’re really looking forward to getting those vehicles, trucks crossovers in to the marketplace,’’ she said.

Advertisement

In November, GM announced plans to shut the plants and lay off the workers, including about 3,300 at four US factories that mainly make cars and components, 2,600 at a factory in Canada, and over 8,000 white-collar workers. The company said the moves are necessary to stay financially healthy as it makes the transition to more electric and autonomous vehicles.

Barra said Friday that GM has 2,700 jobs at other factories for the 3,300 US factory workers slated for layoff. About 1,500 workers have expressed interest in moving to other plants, and 700 already have been placed, she said. Another 1,200 are eligible to retire, she said.